Drug Trafficking In Mexico Research Paper

Question:
Does the drug trafficking impact Mexico’s economy in a positive way?
Mexico has been fighting a drug war since the 1980’s to this present day. Violence has decreased in Mexico at this point but drug cartels have not been stopped. As drugs are being exchanged and bought, money should be going back towards the Mexican economy. Corruption is one of the reasons on why drug cartels are still around and functioning. Why else is marijuana not legal or decriminalized in Mexico but is in other countries like Portugal and Spain. Mexico has yet to eliminate this industry due to the fact that drug trafficking profit revenue must impact Mexico’s economy in a positive way.
Not much research has been done on the economic impact drugs have done

It has open up its borders and changed its policy by expanding import quotas and reducing tariffs. NAFTA contributed to the increase of drug production by one-third subconsciously. When NAFTA took effect there was 20% reduction in the price of maize in Mexico, and since then it has fallen by 59% according to Dube. This reduction has placed agricultural farmers and owners in a dangerous predicament. To compensate for the loss of cost in maize they have no choice than to contribute to the drug traffic by producing illicit drugs. Growing marijuana and heroin poppies contribute to the violence increase in their area. Cartels move to economically depressed territories knowing farmers will agree to grow in place or alongside their maize. Cartels knowing that farmers are economically unstable, take advantage and use their land causing violence between rivals to claim the land. The decline in maize price led to an increased drug production. Making this situation a negative relationship between maize prices and cartel presence. Some cartels directly purchase drugs produced by small farm owners or hire laborers to cultivate drugs on lands they controlled. The lower the cost of maize was, the more present cartels were in the area and an increase in violence. According to Dube, there was an increase in the cost of corn by 8% led to 11% fewer total killings in municipios

Also, 230 million people which is 5% of the world’s population has used an illicit drug according to a study in 2010 mentioned by Espinosa. We can see why drug trafficking is a great business globally. There was a drop however, in the consumption of cocaine in the United States that was mentioned in the study. This drop just led to the opening of new markets elsewhere causing cartel wars in Mexico.
There are different kinds of strategies drug cartels use which are stationary or temporary. The stationary cartels have the ability to maintain control over their territories over a long- term. Since they are controlling over stationary they reduce violent behavior because they look towards greater long-term gains. While temporary cartels have uncertain over their territory. Since they are controlling over temporarily they extract rents and resources from the community at a higher rate through extortion, robbery because they need to maximize their short-term